Qualified Children's Social Worker

Cafcass; Essex; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A children's welfare organization based in Essex is hiring Children's Social Workers to join their Private and Public Law teams. The role involves assessing and advocating for children's welfare in family law cases. You will need a relevant social work qualification and experience working with children and families. The position offers a flexible working environment, extensive support, and excellent benefits. Applications are welcomed, with closing dates in early December 2025.

Benefits

Extensive wellbeing support

Excellent benefits

Qualifications

• Relevant social work qualification is essential.
• Demonstrable experience of working with children and families.
• Experience in Family Court proceedings would be an advantage.

Responsibilities

• Conduct assessments and engage with children to represent their views.
• Advocate for arrangements prioritising the best interest of children.

Skills

Relevant Social Work qualification

Experience with children and families

Organised and resilient

Education

Registered with Social Work England

Job description

We are hiring Children’s Social Workers for our Private and Public Law teams in Chelmsford (covering Essex region).

Working in the Private and Public Law teams, Children’s Social Workers (or as we will professionally call you - Family Court Advisers) are involved in a combination of cases where either the families require assistance to agree on the best arrangements for the welfare and safety of the child(ren) involved or the local authority has serious concerns and requests the involvement of Cafcass in the case.

Children’s Social Workers key responsibilities include :

• Conducting assessments and directly engaging with children to understand and represent their views and wishes to the court.
• Using expertise in robust risk assessment and mediation will be essential as you advocate for arrangements that prioritise the best interest of the children.

Who we’re looking for

• Relevant Social Work qualification is essential
• Registered with Social Work England (Cafcass reimburses costs of this annual cost)
• You’ll have demonstrable, relevant experience of working with children and families in a social work setting
• Experience in Family Court proceedings and understanding of Private and / or Public Law would be an advantage
• Organised and resilient with ability to work independently and manage workload effectively

Location

Whilst you may see these roles have contractual base in our Chelmsford office, our teams work flexibly and remotely, your proximity to the office doesn’t always have to be a critical consideration. This hopefully will allow you to work in a way that suits you best.

We provide the resources, equipment, and support, so that individually and collectively, we can be the voice of children and young people when the family court makes critical decisions about their futures.

We provide extensive wellbeing support for colleagues, as well as excellent benefits, all of which we hope encourage you to work within our dedicated team.

The advertised salary reflects our 2024 / 25 pay award. We are awaiting confirmation of our 2025 / 26 when salaries will be updated to reflect this.

Next steps / Timelines

Below we have given you an indication of a timetable we are hoping to work towards, although dates are subject to change.

Closing date : 08 December 2025

Telephoneinterviews :

w / c08 December 2025

Final Interview :

w / c15 December 2025

Vacancy Contact -

In anticipation of your successful application, we encourage you to review our offer and pre-employment checks process. You are welcome to raise any questions or concerns about these checks during your application, with the assurance that this information will remain confidential.

Successful applicants will undergo various pre-engagement checks, including a Disclosure and Barring Service check (DBS). In line with the DBS code of practice and our policy, if a criminal offence is declared, an individual assessment will be conducted. For further details regarding this assessment, please refer to the Cafcass DBS policy.

We look forward to receiving your application!